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TRAVIS PASTRANA
Can you think of any other rider in the world that would try a backflip on the parade lap
of a Motocross des Nations moto? Exactly. The only rider that comes to mind is Travis Pastrana. The American motorcycling legend pushed through his many lingering ailments and injuries that he’s accrued as a profes- sional motocross racer, stuntman, rally car driver, and freestyle motocross competitor over the years in order to race an event that he couldn’t miss. Pastrana wanted to be there so badly that he decided to miss multiple stops in the Nitro Circus You Got This Tour
in order to represent Team Puerto Rico at
the Motocross des Nations. Way back in 2000 when Pastrana was a member of the SoBe Suzuki team, he represented Team USA alongside Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Hughes in Saint-Jean-d’Angély, France, win- ning the only Peter Chamberlain Trophy of his career. He didn’t return to the Motocross des Nations with a trophy in mind, but instead to raise money for the country of Puerto
Rico, put on one hell of a show for the fans
in attendance, and soak up the atmosphere of the epic event. The amount of energy and charisma that Pastrana projects is difficult to put into words; he was constantly taking self- ies, signing autographs, or chopping it up with fans in between races and rarely took a sec- ond to himself to focus on the task at hand. His results weren’t nearly comparable to the last time that he competed at a Motocross des Nations, but that wasn’t the point. Every time his RMZ250 screamed past the fences alongside the track, the crowd roared in ap- proval, no matter if he was in dead last or 15th. Although the undying racer’s mentality deeply vested in Pastrana’s being may have wanted some better results, he contributed to a team of unlikely heroes working their way into the finals of the Motocross des Nations against the world’s best and he did it with a smile from ear to ear, as always.
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